Bernardin Deplores Defiance Of Vatican

March 14, 1986|By Bruce Buursma, Religion writer.

Joseph Cardinal Bernardin has deplored what he calls the ``confusion and even scandal`` created by public internal dissent against official Roman Catholic teachings on abortion and has asserted that the church has a right to expect clear and unambiguous adherence to its formal posture from ``those who teach or minister in its name.``

The Catholic archbishop of Chicago, in his first detailed response to the new strife over the church`s opposition to abortion, said he was

``disappointed, but not surprised`` at last week`s advertisement in the New York Times protesting Vatican ``reprisals`` against dissenting Catholic priests and nuns.

Cardinal Bernardin, chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops` Pro-life Activities Committee, said the published ad is creating a

``climate which makes rational dialogue difficult if not impossible.``

The ad, signed by nearly 1,000 Catholics, was a sequel to a 1984 Times advertisment that contended there is a ``mistaken belief in American society

(that the official church teaching on abortion) is the only legitimate Catholic position.``

In a column to be published in Friday`s editions of The Chicago Catholic newspaper, Cardinal Bernardin said he harbors hope that ``an honorable solution`` can be found, noting that Catholic law makes ``provision for responsible dissent within the church.``

But he said that the church`s ``official moral teaching on the evil of abortion has been clear and consistent over the centuries,`` adding that it is ``simply not correct`` to imply that there are other ``legitimate``

positions.

The cardinal said tensions could be eased through an ``atmosphere of mutual respect and openness on the part of both laity or theologians and the bishops,`` adding that the feared Vatican ``reprisals`` against the more than two dozen nuns and priests who signed the 1984 ad have not materialized.

Threats of dismissal from their religious orders have been dropped in at least seven cases, and the cardinal said a ``continuing dialogue`` is being employed by the church to handle the ``still unresolved cases.``